Mankind's desires were her desires.
Why, then, were those children going against mankind's desires?
Those thoughts went through a certain Moel gas station attendant's head, as she observed a TV screen, with five teens fighting against a humanoid, technicolor monster, dancing seductively against a massive pole; the Shadow manifested from Rise Kujikawa, the latest of Namatame's victims.
Her eyes were mainly focused on a silver-haired teen wielding a long sword; the leader of this little troupe, Souji Seta. Out of all the abilities she expected him to inherit thanks to her push in the right direction, why did it have to be the Wild Card? She was certain that characters like Philemon and the Velvet Room's caretaker had a field day with that observation.
In that instant, a brown-haired boy slammed a couple of spanners against the Shadow; Yosuke Hanamura, the first to obtain the façade to overcome life's hardships; a Persona. That wouldn't have been possible, if not because of two of her pawns' actions; Adachi, who had thrown the girl known as Saki Konishi into the realm of Shadows, and Souji, who had stood by Yosuke's side and defeated his Shadow, before it could kill him as well.
The same went for the three others who fought Rise's Shadow; Chie Satonaka, who had her own Persona attempt to skewer the monster, Yukiko Amagi, who let loose a forceful explosion of flames against the Shadow, and Kanji Tatsumi, who summoned a storm of thunder down upon this creature. If not for Souji, all of them would have ended up just like Adachi's victims.
Their tenacity was admirable, but the question remained; why would they not allow her to go through with mankind's desires?
"What...? I dealt all that exquisite pain and you're still not satisfied? What a finicky guest..."The sound of Rise's Shadow speaking brought her out of her stupor, returning her focus to the enemy they were facing. "You might as well die then!"
After the Shadow uttered those words, she immediately began grinding herself against the pole she was suspended from, letting loose some form of green, digital field around her, engulfing all of the fighters. Gritting his teeth, Souji held the card that contained his current Persona, who called forth a block of ice, that shattered upon impact with the pole.
However, the pole was all it hit; the Shadow gracefully slid away from the ice, allowing herself no harm. Seeing that, the attendant watched the fight with renewed interest.
Soon, it devolved into nothing more than a desperate struggle; every attack the teens threw at the Shadow, whether it was physical or magical, simply wouldn't connect with her, as she kept dancing around the pole.
"What's the deal here?" Chie suddenly yelled, as she took a moment to stop. "Our attacks keep missing!"
"Damn, it's like it's anticipating our every move…" Yosuke muttered, wiping his forehead with a frustrated gleam in his eyes.
"I-I'm completely useless…" Hearing that voice, the attendant looked behind the teens. There, what appeared to be a mascot bear was standing, with a look of despair on its face. Her neutral expression slowly changed into that of a frown; that bear had been aiding the group ever since Yosuke had obtained his own Persona; analyzing Shadows and leading the group to dungeons.
What would lead a Shadow to aid humans in the first place?
At that point, another digital field erupted from the Shadow, encompassing the fighters. "That power…" the bear uttered fearfully. "…I think it's scanning us! Oh, this is not good!"
"…when you say 'not good'…" Kanji uttered, as he glared at the dancing Shadow. "…what exactly does that mean?"
"Whoo-hoo! Analysis complete!" the Shadow yelled excitedly, as blue mist began forming around her. "Okay, here comes my counterattack! See if you can dodge, hmm?"
Almost instantly, the bear realized what the Shadow was planning. "S-stop it!" he yelled, but to no avail; soon after that, a massive explosion erupted above the fighters, knocking all of them off the stage, causing all of them to land in a heap before the bear. Seeing this, the attendant couldn't help but chuckle; a lowly Shadow such as Rise's was actually going to finish them; to stop them from reaching the truth?
"You've gotta be kidding…" Yosuke uttered, as he couldn't even muster the strength to stand up.
"How're we supposed to win…?" Chie groaned, as she was holding her right arm in pain; it appeared to be dislocated.
"A-are we… going to die…?" Yukiko moaned, as she weakly tried pushing herself off the ground.
"…n-no! You guys can't die!" the bear suddenly yelled. This caused the attendant to tilt her head slightly; the bear had, from what she had observed, always taken a back-seat when it came to combat. As it was a Shadow already, other Shadows wouldn't bother with him; in spite of that… "What can I do…? Sensei…"
Souji, who was the one the bear referred to as his Sensei, could only look weakly at him, before giving him a nod. "…Teddie… get out of here…!"
Hearing those words, Teddie grew concerned. The attendant knew that the bear had begun questioning his own identity ever since Souji had entered this realm. What was there to question? Yosuke had been right when he pulled the bear's head off; it was hollow, like the Shadows that lived within this realm. "…a-abandon you? Only I'd get away…?" he uttered, before looking at the Shadow. "…no! I can't do that! I don't want to be all alone again!"
The bear's attitude was beginning to unnerve even the attendant. Why would a Shadow, a creature on par with a mindless beast, be concerned for these people, to the point that he would stand with them?
"Okie dokie, here we go again! Good bye… forever!" At that point, Rise's Shadow unleashed another digital grid, blue mist encircling her. She was preparing the final blow, which would bring their search for truth to a screeching halt.
However, something that the attendant had never expected happened in that instant; the bear suddenly stepped in front of the group, glaring at the Shadow. "…wh-why am I stepping forward?" he uttered in total shock, as he clenched his arms into fists. "Wh-whoaaa! I-I feel like I'm going bear-serk!" While the bear's puns certainly did nothing to amuse her, the attendant was perplexed that he was stepping up, to stop the Shadow from destroying them. "…I-I'll do it! Take a good look… at Teddie's last stand!"
In that instant, a massive aura of energy erupted from Teddie, to the shock of not only the Shadow, but also Souji's group, and the attendant, all of them looking at the bear with wide eyes (well, not the Shadow, at least). "…what? This high energy reading… is it coming from that weird thing?" the Shadow yelled in disbelief, the blue mist fading from her.
At that point, the teens began yelling for the bear to stop, but their pleas fell on deaf ears; with a battle cry, Teddie ran right at the Shadow, before all the energy around him erupted into an explosion even stronger than what the monster had conjured up earlier; with that amount of force directed at her, the Shadow stood no chance, and was forced to revert to her original form.
The attendant could not believe it. Even when it looked like the Shadow would destroy Souji and his friends, help had come from the most unlikely of sources; a Shadow clad in the suit of a mascot bear. Once the flash from the explosion faded, the group could see Teddie's fate; his entire body had deflated, much to the bear's horror.
While their attention was directed to the actual Rise, however, the attendant kept looking at Teddie, who looked at the others from a distance. He was their major source of support against the Shadows… and yet, he was a Shadow, himself. Would it not be ironic, for a Shadow to have to face itself? To confront its worst fears and most secret of desires?
With a chuckle and a smirk, the attendant reached her hand through the screen, making sure that she was in contact with the bear. "Mankind's desires are my desires…" she uttered, before pulling her hand out of the screen. To live in blissful ignorance, never to understand the fruitless search for truth…
"…show them what mankind desires… Shadow Teddie."